On Tuesday night  the Tiger soccer team traveled to bitter rival Livingston Academy in a district match-up.
The game would live up to its hype as there was no shortage of physical play. But there was a common dislike for one another. DeKalb lost the game 2-1 for their first loss of the season.
Livingston had the ball to begin the game and put the Tigers in a situation they have not been used to this year as the Wildcats made their way downfield and scored in just 20 seconds. The Livingston player marched downfield and split the defense, then sent in a through-ball across field for an easy goal on DeKalb.
Just a short time after in the two-minute mark, Brandon Leiser had an opportunity to tie things up for the Tigers as he was presented with a scoring opportunity but could not put the ball in the back of the net and was cleared by a Livingston defender for a throw. Geovany Guzman would take the throw and go down the line to Ben Pafford. Pafford would then cross the ball into the awaiting arms of the keeper.
The next chance either team would get came from DeKalb’s Luis Richards as, at the six-minute mark from about 26 yards out, he let loose a high arching shot that appeared to be high, but at the last second the shot dipped into the left side of the goal to bring the game even at one apiece.
DeKalb’s defense was still stiff as the back-line game was in sync as, at the 11-minute mark, they were able to catch Livingston offsides. Just after the free kick from the offsides call, the Tigers made a run towards the goal. Leiser was the player with the chance again and took his shot but it sailed high for a goal kick. In the 16-minute mark, Livingston had broken past the defense and pressured the keeper. The shot was deflected away for a corner. On the corner attempt, it was anyone's ball as it would bounce around from player to player for some time until a Livingston player would kick the ball out of play for a goal kick. At the 26-minute mark tempers would flare as Zach Taylor received a yellow card for shoving an Livingston player after an altercation between the two. At the 29-minute mark, Livingston Academy again had a  chance to score as they broke away from the Tiger defense but Eli Lomas hustled downfield catching the player from behind and cleared the ball from any opportunity of finding the net.
At the 32-minute mark, Livingston was back in DeKalb County territory and put themselves in position to score but the Tiger keeper Ben Driver managed to get to the ball and halt the Livingston momentum for the scoring attempt. Just after the save, Livingston again pressed through the Tiger defense and  pressured the keeper, Driver, as he came out and made the initial save for DeKalb. The Tigers failed to clear the ball from danger after the deflection from Driver and allowed Livingston to score a second goal. With Livingston gaining possession and the momentum, they again made it back to the back-line defense for DeKalb and took a shot that was deflected by a defender. Then the echo of the ball hitting the crossbar rang through the night as the ball blasted the right post of the goal and was then cleared out, ending the first half.
In the opening of the second half DeKalb marched into the back-line of Livingston and it was Geovany Guzman with the finesse shot from the 18-yard box that took a direct path to the goal. The keeper for Livingston jumped out, diving out to full extension to save the goal for a corner kick. On the corner attempt, it was Guzman who would send the ball into play and Taylor would take a chance with a header attempt. The shot was wide left for a goal kick.
The defense for the Tigers had not given up yet, catching Livingston offsides for a fourth time in the match-up. At the seven-minute mark, however, the Wildcats  played a through-ball past the defense and charged the keeper but the shot sailed high for a DeKalb goal kick.
At the 12-minute mark DeKalb was up to throw the ball in, but Livingston was all over, intercepting the ball and driving downfield for a chance at another goal to put them up by two. The efforts of Livingston were stifled by back-line defender Thomas Beltz as he ran the  attacker down from behind and cleared the ball away.
At the 15-minute mark, it was the keeper, Diver and a lone Livingston attacker in a one-on-one break-away. Driver came out to press the forward. As the keeper came out, the player took a shot that sailed just wide right of the post for another goal kick. At the 20-minute mark, DeKalb finally had some offensive momentum as they broke away on a  ball cleared away by the defense. Taylor would be the one to bring the ball down then have a well-played through-ball to Javier Sanchez, but the defense would catch Sanchez and clear the ball.
At the 22-minute mark, DeKalb  was granted a free kick from 18 yards out. The ball was played in the air for a cross opportunity and was punched away by the Livingston keeper. At the 27-minute mark, DeKalb County found itself in prime position to score as Javier Sanchez was tripped up in the box and awarded a penalty kick. Richards was chosen to take the penalty and would send the ball in the upper right hand side of the goal but the keeper had guessed the exact spot and dashed the hopes for DeKalb’s chance at a goal from the “pk.”
Play would go on with possession swapping from one team to another. It wasn’t until the 35-minute mark, that a team made it through the other’s defense. DeKalb was on the better end of the run as they slipped past the defenders and looked to score with a shot coming from Zach Taylor. Unfortunately, the shot would sail high and right not giving the keeper any kind of challenge. In extra time DeKalb had just one more chance to score as a free kick was given. Coach K gave the defense  orders to crash the goal in last-ditch effort to tie the game up with a hopeful goal. The Tigers could not find any miracle to get the ball in the goal and the whistle would sound for the last time, ending the game with a heart-breaking loss to their biggest rival.